Published: Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 11:36 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 11:36 a.m.

House of Flowers staff member Randy Boudreaux, 51, assembles a
Valentine's Day floral arrangement Monday in the Houma shop.

And your friendly neighborhood florists are the people putting in the legwork to help produce that happiness.

Owner of House of Flowers in Houma, Denise Bourg, 53, has known the holiday no other way, she said, since she was born into the floral industry.

“I've been in this business my whole life,” she said. “I was born into this shop.”

Her mom, Sadie Toups, 85, the previous owner of the floral shop, confirms Bourg's claim. Toups has been a florist for about 70 years.

“She's right. She was born here. I accidentally got this place,” Toups said, referring to the way she came into ownership of House of Flowers. “I was just helping out with arrangements for a funeral and did such a good job, the owner was ready to sell and asked me to take it.”

Bourg has taken over handling the bulk of the business, with help from her mom and several other employees. She gets so busy, she said, that celebrating Valentine's Day with her husband of 35 years is out of the question.

“He knows how it is,” she said. “We celebrate it with a phone call where he says ‘how's it going?' ” she said. “And my answer is ‘Oh you know. You know how it's going.' ”

House of Flowers creates 600 to 700 arrangements in the week or so leading up to Valentine's Day, most of which are handmade.

They can make about 200 deliveries a day using from four to five vans and drivers, a maximum they sometimes reach or come close to reaching on Feb. 14.

“People call that day still wanting deliveries,” she said. “By that point we just can't. You have to know your limit. We also do not take weddings on Valentine's Day. Weddings are such a special day, and I can't focus on them, which isn't fair to the bride. The volume is too large on the day of Valentine's to really devote time to a wedding, so you have to know the limit of what you can do and just stop taking orders.”

Each year for Valentine's Day, House of Flowers takes on from five to eight additional staff members due to the volume of orders. The other holiday that comes fairly close to the abundant amount is Mother's Day, Bourg said, adding that the number of orders usually falls just below that of Feb. 14.

When asked if the amount of flower bouquet orders has decreased with the arrival of edible arrangements and similar alternative product deliveries, the long-time florist said flowers are “still as popular as ever.”

“The way people order is a lot different with online and third-party websites,” she said. “For example, we get a lot of orders through 1-800 FLOWERS. Not everyone calls me or comes in. The way they do it has drastically changed.”

And, Bourg said, the use of credit cards was an industry changer.

“Back in the ‘70s, it was all about house accounts,” Bourg said. “But people still appreciate the value of what flowers do to people. Flowers immediately cheer you up.”

One tip Bourg said is important for guys to keep in mind when ordering flowers year round, but especially for Valentine's Day, is to “send a woman flowers where she works so everyone else can see.”

She said the flowers must pass as many women as possible in the woman's office on the way to her desk.

That's why this year, House of Flowers has had a lot of deliveries outside of the 14th of the month, especially for women who work in places closed this week for Mardi Gras.

“We have just as many on the 13th and had quite a few Monday and even last week,” Bourg said. “For example, those guys were sending them to ladies that maybe didn't have work this week, like teachers, and they knew they'd better get those flowers to where she works.”

As for her love life, “My husband definitely does not send me flowers, but he does give me a gift,” she said. “For us now, after being married so long, it's like a card and candy thing. We do not go out. By the time the night of the 14th comes around, I just want to go home, take a bath and rest.”

Staff Writer Kris Johnson can be reached at 857-2207 or kris.johnson@houmatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter @krisLjo.

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